Fluorescent
by DanceOfTheWhiteMoon
Summary: AU: Rukia and Ichigo are best friends. Separated for a month, they meet once again on the most important day of Rukia's life. NOTE: Rukia isn't getting married, I assure you. I'm all about happy endings! Notice ze Genre. IchiRuki/IchigoXRukia. Bleach fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, well. Lookey here. I've got a new story! And its an AU this time. Never tried it before so please, spare me the agony of reading mean reviews ;) So, umm... enjoy?**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach for nuts.**

* * *

I stared at the mirror, daydreaming. Again. There were a million things running through my mind, but there were two in particular that were the most prominent to me right now.

The most important performance of my life would begin in approximately one and a half hours -not to mention the fact that the most sought after instructors, principals and teachers of the famous Arts schools around the whole world were here at the famous Royal Victoria Hall in England to watch. They were looking out for young, talented, and promising dancers to offer a place in their academy.

I've had my eye on the Shirayuki Ballet School for a long time. It was, after all, my dream to be a part of their team; to be able to do what I love and enjoy every minute of it. If I managed to clinch a position, the Kuchiki elders would probably stop pestering me to further my studies in Business. I had absolutely no passion for that; there was no need to think twice about the answer I gave them when they handed me the chance to get out of the Kuchiki business and pursue a career in Ballet.

The other thing on my mind was actually giving me more of a headache than my performance, which was surprising seeing as I had basically been waiting my whole life for this opportunity. The thought made me tremble slightly, as a wave of flashbacks and memories of him -_with_ him- overcame me.

The way his gorgeous amber eyes would brighten when he came home from school and see me waiting at the door for him, or the way he loves -but refuses to admit it- carrying me around our apartment on his back when we're alone. Or even the way we would just smile and stare at each other, everything around us fading into oblivion.

The onslaught of emotions held my mind prisoner to the outside world right now, barely registering the alarmed voice calling out my name. I was shaken out of my trance when I felt something collide with my head, causing me to stumble a few steps forward.

"What the-?"

Very confused and slightly shocked, I looked down to see a pair of pleading baby-blue eyes staring up at me. The arms around my waist tightened when I tried to pry the young girl's fingers off of me. I sighed in defeat when I realized this wasn't going anywhere. When I looked down again, I couldn't help but let a muffled laugh escape my lips. How did I miss this before?

"Rukia? Could you help me with my makeup? I suck at it. And I think I just made my eye look like someone punched it," Rose whined, and then gave a little squeal when I poked her cheek.

"It's not that bad. I barely noticed it," I shrugged after seeing the damage on her pretty little face. But the horror engraved on her face was enough to send me into a fit of giggles.

After a few seconds, my heavy chuckles faded out, finishing in a breathless wheeze. She huffed and turned away, embarrassed at being laughed at.

"Oh, Rose," I murmured out disapprovingly, still slightly out of breath, "What the hell did you _do_?"

I had seriously thought she was exaggerating, but apparently not. She had mixed pink and blue eye shadow together making it look like someone really had punched her in the eye. Plus, it had smudged a little making it look like a quarter of her face was bruised.

Rose was a fellow dancer, and a great one at that. I was actually secretly envious of her. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever set my eyes upon. Her long blonde hair was soft and smooth looking, ending in gentle waves at the small of her back. For the performance, though, her hair was tied up into a high ballerina bun with strands of hair framing the sides of her face. Her high cheekbones, bright blue eyes with long eyelashes and slim, long legs completed the whole perfect look. To sum it all up, she looked like a freaking supermodel. But she was such a nice girl, a kind of person that proved the saying, 'never judge a book by its cover', true. She was one of my best friends since I had moved to England with him. _Him. _Why does it always have to go back to him?!

I sighed and looked up at my blonde-haired friend..

"I know, I know. I look _horrible,_" she groaned. "Can you fix me, Rukia? Is there enough time?" she asked glancing nervously at the big clock that hung at the back of the dressing room.

One hour till show-time.

"Yeah," I sighed once again. "Could you try removing the make-up first, sweetie? I'll get back to you in a sec."

I ran over to my backpack and plucked out my phone. No missed calls, or messages. I sighed heavily.

Kurosaki Ichigo, my bestest best friend, had gone to New York for a course on the 'Newest Discoveries in Medicine' for the last month. I would've gone too, if not for this important performance. A surge of sudden anger swelled up inside of me. Couldn't he call to wish me good luck? I knew he wasn't coming for the concert, but couldn't he at least text me? Ugh. Some best friend- well that's probably all I'll ever be to him. Who the hell cares anyway?! I sure don't! No wa-

Who am I kidding? I wanted to be more than friends. To make my already down mood worse, I missed him. A lot.

"Rukiaaa!" Rose squeaked, waving a hand in the air. I trudged over to her, feeling almost forgotten and abandoned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jared asked; I hadn't noticed him watching me.

"Yup. Sure I am. Why?" I asked, shrugging nonchalantly. I shouldn't be this affected by Ichigo. It wasn't healthy.

"Has he called?" he asked calmly, a knowing look in his eyes.

"No," I pouted childishly.

He snorted, a smirk starting to form on his face. "Guess that explains the ugly face."

"What are you talking about? And who the fuck are you calling ugly?!" I was starting to get irritated.

"Oh, c'mon. We're not imbeciles. You're in love with him, and its time you told him, Rukie-baby. Besides, you're gonna have to get some _action _some time soon," he grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I felt my cheeks burn, and I had to resist the urge to smack that grin off his face. I simply closed my eyes, lifted my chin up, crossed my arms and turned my head towards the right. "I have no idea what you're talking about. And _don't_ call me Rukie," I snapped.

If there was any other thing that irritated me that was on par with them teasing me, it was that stupid, horrible nickname he invented. It annoyed the hell out of me.

"Ouch. You're in a bad mood. Maybe I'll tell him for you?" Jared asked.

"NO! I mean, no t-thank you," I stammered after my sudden outburst. "Please, don't do anything like that. It would be disastrous to our friendship, and to me." Incase he doesn't like me, I added to myself.

He laughed; I picked up a slight edge of irritation laced in his tone. "If you're afraid he won't like you, you're an idiot. And _he's _an idiot for not noticing you like him. I mean… its soooo obvious!"

"Shut up, Jared," I mumbled, annoyed that he knew what I was thinking. "I so do not like him."

I tried not to think about why he was irritated; I had overheard him talking to Rose about how much he _liked_ me… _really_ liked me.

"Whatever. We believe you," he said, blinking and smiling innocently.

I glared at him. "I appreciate your effort at being sarcastic," I replied acidly, my voice flowing thick with sarcasm and irritation. I was too annoyed to be polite and nice to him.

And how the fuck did they find out in the first place?

I grabbed Rose by the arm and led her away from the _bad influence, _as I affectionately called him. We walked to the corner of the dressing room and stopped when I was sure he couldn't overhear anything.

"Uh, Rose? If I asked you something, swear you won't tell anyone…."

"I swear!"

"How did you figure out I… you know." I looked down at the floor nervously. "_Loved_ him?" I whispered the last part just in case.

"OH MY GOD! I knew it! I _knew_ it!" She squealed excitedly and started jumping up and down on the same spot.

My eyes widened and I looked around quickly. "Shut up! Everyone's gonna hear you!" I hissed.

"Whoops, sorry. Okay, okay…" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, making me go crazy with the suspense. "Every time you talk about him, you get this far-away look in your eyes and start blushing. You look like you're high. Seriously. Though the first time I suspected it was when you showed that picture from your wallet and my cousin said he was hot. You were insanely jealous, I could tell. She could too, apparently." She giggled. "She asked me later if he was your boyfriend, and if that's why you were so pissed."

I let out a low hiss.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Rukia. I made it so obvious. If they knew, he was sure to know! Crap! This was just great.

"Hey Rukie, Rosie! Hurry up, will ya? I wanna do some more stretches and then squeeze in a small rehearsal before the big show. You girls are always so god damn slow!" Jared shouted over to us.

"We will if you stop calling me that, Jaredette. And who put that 10-foot pole up _your_ ass? Jeez." I grumbled, and then rolled my eyes. He was obviously still annoyed, and apparently, so was I.

He snorted, and grumbled something I didn't catch.

I opened my mouth for a counter attack but Rose poked my stomach, trying to get my attention, and pointed to her face and the make-up in my hand.

"Oh, right," I mumbled apologetically.

Rose just gave me a bright smile and skipped off to the seat in front of a mirror. As I moved towards her, I gave one last withering glare to Jared who was smirking, trying to hide it with the water bottle he was drinking from. I huffed and turned away with as much dignity as I had.

Rose was smiling happily and twirling around in her rolling chair when I joined her, but I could detect a certain glint in her eyes that made me cringe inwardly. I knew what was coming, and hopefully, she wouldn't be that harsh with her questions. But as I looked into her blue orbs once more, I saw something that I couldn't place. It seemed like… mischievousness? Or was it like… she knew something was going to happen?

"So, when did you fall in love with him?" Ah, there we go. The interrogation starts.

I sighed and turned her chair away from me and faced it towards the mirror. I opened the blue eye shadow compact, reached around her to apply it to her eyelid when I paused and looked down on my lap.

"I fell in love with him the minute I saw him…"

I looked up and my hand continued its journey towards her face, but as I looked towards the mirror, I froze. My eyes widened to huge proportions and I felt my heart literally stop beating, but at the same time, I felt it beat 100 times per second. How could-? It was not possible-!

"Who have you fallen in love with?" the low, husky -and postively _sexy_, I added to myself- voicealmost as deadly as the way he looked then.

There he was, in all his glory, standing there with the most ferocious scowl I had ever seen on his face. His hands were at his sides and I could see his fingers tightening into a fist as his palm turned pale, white almost. I breathed out heavily at the sight of his handsome form reflected in the mirror.

"Ichigo…"

* * *

**A/N: So...? Acceptable? God, I hope so. **

**And remember to review! My other story, What Flour Bags Can Do To You, still hasn't gotten enough reviews for me to update, too. But it is, afterall, _your_ choice if you want me to update B)**

**May the Force be with You,**

**DOTWM**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yes, I finally updated. Dunno why, though. Seeing as how I only have a pathetic 9 reviews. Was it that bad that you guys didn't review? I guess it was. Well, nevermind me. I'm just in a self-loathing state right now. So just read on and enjoy, I guess! It's kinda really long so don't hate me! Besides, don't you guys like long chapters? ~_~ Oh and by the way, it's kinda OOC. **

**...okay, _really_ OOC. Please don't shoot me!**

* * *

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

"Ichigo…" I stammered. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"I came for your performance, duh."

He was trying to act nonchalant, but I could tell that he was hiding his anger. With what, I did not know. As I turned to face him, I couldn't help but blush. He wore a fitting white T-shirt and black pants, tapered at the bottom. A single slim black tie was wrapped around his neck and a black leather jacket was in his right hand, thrown over his right shoulder. All in all, he was _hot_. As usual.

His amber eyes were staring right into my own, and I couldn't help but feel lightheaded. I rubbed the soft cloth of the robe over my skin, trying to get rid of the goose bumps that covered my body. It didn't work.

"I'm not gonna ask you again, Rukia. Who are you in love with?" His eyes were smoldering, and they seemed like they were trying to get an answer out of me. I felt my lips open involuntarily.

"Yo-"

Hey. Hold on a second there. Was I just going to confess to him? And in front of my friends nonetheless?!

"Yoshita Takashi!"

Good job Rukia. Great cover up.

"Who the fuck is that?!" It seemed as if he was on fire. His face was a canvas of red, so deep that it put the colour of tomato sauce to shame, not to mention his determined eyes were turning into a lighter shade of golden. It sort of scared me, how he looked slightly wild. "How come I've never met him before? Rukia, I swear, if you ever go near him again, I'll lock you up in your room and kill that bastard if he comes even within 10 metres from you. Wait. Screw 10 metres! I'll kill him as soon as I see him! I swear I will. Don't doubt for a second what I'll do to that poor asshat of a per-"

"Shut up! Why the hell do you care anyway?! It's none of your beeswax! You have no right whatsoever to have a say on who I am or am not in love with!"

His eyes hardened and I was suddenly suspicious of what was going on in his brain. It was times like these that I cursed myself for not being able to read his mind when he was mad. Though it wasn't often that he was angry around me. More like irritated.

Voice strained, he said, "I'll be seated on the right side of the judge's table. Good luck." With that, he turned and walked away towards the exit. It was not until then that I realized he held something in his left hand. A bouquet of roses with a single white rose in the middle.

My eyes started brimming with tears, and to hide it, I turned and faced away from his retreating back. Rose, who was still in her chair, touched my shoulder sympathetically.

"It's okay, Rukia. I'm sure he's not _that_ mad." She gently removed the compact eye shadow that was clenched tightly in my fist and continued. "I'll ask Mary-Jane to do this for me. Go ahead and sit down for awhile."

All I could do was nod dumbly. Rose knew better than to try and comfort me when I was as distressed as I was then. From the corner of my eye, I saw her throw me a worried glance as she backed off towards Mary-Jane, another dancer, who was talking animatedly on her phone. As soon as I saw that she had turned away from me, my silent sobbing started, causing my body to tremble slightly from trying so hard to keep them in. After not seeing him for so long, we had to get into a fight immediately after we reunited. Ah, this was so frustrating! Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and the scent of roses suddenly engulfed me.

"I-Ichigo…"

"God, Rukia. I-I'm so sorry! I mean it's your big day and all and I just had to come along and ruin it. Argh! I'm sorry! Don't cry…"

I twisted around to face him as I laid my palms on his chest. He was looking down at me with a pitiful expression. Despite the sadness that was overwhelming me, I couldn't help the small smile that escaped me at the sight.

"Idiot," I managed.

He grinned in relief and slapped his palm on the top of my head. He always used to do that, just to emphasize my shortness. From the other side of the room, I could see Rose give me a knowing smirk through the mirror as Mary-Jane did her eyes. I smiled weakly back. He stepped back, held out the bouquet in front of me and looked off to the side.

"F-For luck."

I touched the petals of the single white rose in the middle and smiled at the way his cheeks were tinged with the slightest shade of pink as he said this.

Suddenly overwhelmed, I let the bouquet drop down beside me and threw my arms around him.

"Thanks for coming, Ichigo!"

...

Whooooa. Pause. Rewind!

I drew back abruptly and felt like melting into the floor. Where the hell did that sudden braveness come from anyway?! I bent down, grabbed the bunch of flowers from the floor and concentrated determinedly on arranging the bouquet that had come a bit undone in an effort not to look up, and see the smirk that was bound to be present.

"Hey! You're Ichigo, right? Your girlfriend told me you weren't going to be able to make it," said Jared, who'd just entered the room.

I so, _so_ wanted to punch him at that moment.

"Shut it, Jar-"

"Took a week off. What's it to _you_, ballerina?"

Jared, in true Jared fashion, breezed it off. He sauntered over to me and draped an arm over my shoulders.

"C'mon, Rukie-baby. The dance floor's waiting for us."

"Don't call her that," snapped Ichigo.

Surprised, I looked at him. He usually never lost his temper over something so minor. Not that I minded though.

"Why?" Jared smirked. "What's it to you?" he quoted.

Ichigo growled at him and turned to me.

"I've gotta go to my seat now. Good luck, midget." He strode over in between Jared and me, bending down to wrap his arms around me. The arm that was around my shoulders fell as Jared was pushed away from me. I blushed and gave him a one-arm hug back. I still had the flowers in one of my hands, after all. If I dropped them again, I knew they wouldn't hold together. He pulled away until he was a little above the top of my head. He gave me that oh-so-sexy smirk of his and my heart literally skipped a beat.

Seriously, how did I become such a sop in love? It even sounds cliché in my head!

I blinked when he stepped out of my personal space bubble, suddenly feeling the loss of his warmth. He stepped back once more, and lifted his arm and waved once, then turned and made his way out towards the seating area. At the door, he turned once and gave me a smile, which I returned. He then twisted his head towards Jared and gave him a once over. He smirked and began walking out again. I stared at his withdrawing back for a few seconds, my fingers dancing over the petals of the white rose. As soon as he was out of earshot, Rose came bouncing over. Jared shrugged and walked away to do whatever he usually does.

Was it just me, or was Ichigo being possessive just now?

…

Nah, that couldn't be true.

I was suddenly jolted out of my reverie as a feminine voice entered my ears.

"I told you, I told you he liked you!" Rose sang. "And, oh my god, he is _gorgeous_,Rukia," she firmly took hold of my shoulders. "Listen to me. He is totally into you!" she practically howled out the last part. "It was so obvious I could have cried." Somewhere, deep in my brain, I had registered that possible fact. I couldn't help the stupid smile from forming on my face as I thought about this. Rose smiled and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you, Rukia," she squealed.

I smiled up at her. "Thanks Rose. You're an awesome friend. I really don't know how I would have survived these past few months without you."

The sound of Jared clearing his throat loudly from the doorway broke us out of our moment. We both rolled our eyes at him and together, followed him out the door.

* * *

The last rehearsal done, we paced nervously backstage as our performance time drew nearer. I was trying not to think about him, however futile that may be. It was causing my brain to go into overdrive, and I couldn't afford to screw my up choreography and embarrass myself in front of him. God, it was going to be bloody hard though, seeing as how I almost always manage to humiliate myself. As the sound of applause reached our ears, Rose and I looked at each other in silent horror. Then, almost simultaneously, we drew in a deep, calming breath.

We took our places and as the curtains opened, my eyes automatically darted around the audience for a sign of orange. As my eyes settled on Ichigo, sitting just where he said he'd be right beside the judges table, all my nerves disappeared in an instant. He was here. He'd come down to see me. I smiled. With that, I let the music envelop me and launched into the routine.

* * *

Backstage, the excited, congratulatory atmosphere was enough to lift me out of my nerves which had returned full force immediately after the recital. People were running around and hugging each other; and friends and family had sneaked backstage too. I grinned at the sight of Rose and her boyfriend, who I finally got to see. He looked like a rock star, with his dark hair with red highlights spiked right down the middle. He was attractive, nonetheless.

Then I noticed Jared chatting up some girl who really needed to invest in a shirt that actually served its purpose. He caught my eye and I gave him a scoff. He just responded with a wink and pulled the girl off to god knew where.

"Pervert," I muttered to myself.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" growled an apparently annoyed Ichigo. He caught my arm and pulled me to himself with my back against his chest.

_Crap._

"Err…nowhere?" I tried, looking up at him standing behind me. In truth, I had been spending the after party at the concert hall trying to evade him, for fear of the awkward silences that were bound to be present. I mean, you just didn't have moments like those everyday with someone who was supposed to be your best friend. It'd been relatively easy enough, avoiding him, that is, thanks to his orange head which I could spot from a mile away. With the help of the flashing lights, it was even easier than normal to spot his luminous hair.

"Don't lie to me Rukia. You've been avoiding me since-"

"Oops, sorry Ichigo. I'd love to stay and chat but I really gotta go pee."

"I just saw you going in 15 minutes ago."

"Yeah, well, I gotta go again. I'm a girl you know." I struggled against his vice-like grip.

"Oh no, you don't. You're not getting away this time." He dragged me out of the hall to a bench in the brightly lit walkway around the corner.

"Sit," he ordered.

"No," I answered indignantly. "What am I, your dog?"

"Sit," he ordered again. "Or I'll make you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Okay," he shrugged with an evil smirk. I _really_ didn't like the look of that. It was defiantly not gonna be good.

…

I was right, I realized, when I suddenly found myself on the ground with him on top of me and my ass hurting. A _lot_.

I scowled up at him. "What the hell Ichigo!"

"I win," he grinned mischievously.

"Whatever. Now get off me, you pervert." His knees were on either side of my hips which prevented any escape plans I might have had. As I wondered what the hell he thought he was doing, I felt my cheeks heating up at the close proximity. I really hoped Ichigo wouldn't notice. I was attempting to rearrange my face into a pissed off expression when he started laughing.

"What are you laughing at," I grumbled.

"You." At his response, I sighed exasperatedly.

"Are you going to let me go and tell me what the hell you're doing?"

"Are you planning to run off if I do?"

"Uh…no?"

"Right. That was _so_ convincing. Hence, sorry, you aren't going anywhere."

"Asshole."

"You know you love me."

I swear, my heart stopped beating for about 5 seconds.

"…What?!"

"You love me," he said smirking now.

"Wha-What gives you that idea?" I replied, trying not to stutter.

"Well, for starters, Yoshita Takashi doesn't exist." I wondered how he'd figured that out. I had a feeling Rose had something to do with it. His smirk was turning into a full blown grin of self-satisfaction by now.

"Who says he doesn't exist? You saying that doesn't mean a damn thing," I refuted stubbornly. I really didn't know why I was behaving like this. I should be jumping for this opportunity to tell him my feelings for him by now and agreeing whole-heartedly! He sighed in frustration and stood up, pulling me along. He bent down slightly and drew me as close to him as possible, until I was totally enclosed in his warmth. I flushed when I felt his breath on my ear. Even in this dire –_yes_, dire- situation, I felt bliss.

"Stop lying, Rukia," his husky sing-song voice whispered into my ear.

Good_bye_, bliss.

I sputtered indignantly. How dare he accuse me of lying?! Fine, maybe I _was_ lying, but he shouldn't go around accusing me like that! I glared at him as I tried to come up with something for a retort. I sighed and closed my eyes briefly when I realized I didn't have anything to say up my sleeve. What perfect timing I had to forget all the snappy come backs I had memorized! I did, after all, have a notebook with everything written down. Hey! How do you expect to win arguments if you aren't prepared?!

_Anyway_, back on track.

I groaned when I realized what I had to do. I figured, what the heck, might as well tell him, now that he has me cornered. I took in a deep breath and opened my previously closed eyelids to stare into his beautiful amber eyes. They seemed anxious, pleading almost. Now more apprehensive of the outcome, I mentally prepared myself for the worst and opened my lips.

"You're right Ichigo…" This statement brought a sharp intake of breath from Ichigo.

Looking up to him, I continued. "I love you… like a friend."

…I know, I know. I'm such a chicken.

I broke out of my self-loathing state when I noticed that my statement had brought on a variety of reactions from the man across of me.

He stared at me in disbelief for two seconds, before slamming his palm on his forehead. He turned with his back facing me and lifted his fist, cursing the heavens loudly. He then grabbed a fistful of his hair in both of his hands and spun back around to look towards me, a crazed look in his eyes.

"You love me, as you would love a friend?! Seriously, Rukia? Seriously?!"

I stared at the floor, unable to comprehend what was happening. "Uh…"

"No! You don't! Unless… unless, you have someone else you love? Like… that Jared guy, was it? Or even… Yoshita Takashi? He exists?! But that friend of yours told me he didn't! I can't believe this! I t-thought you loved m-me! Argh! How c-could I be so s-stupid?!"

He was stuttering, and it was only when I looked up at him when I realized that he had tears running down his face. _The_ Kurosaki Ichigo was crying. Actually _crying_. The same person who had never cried a day in his life after the death of his mother 9 years ago. And _I_ was the one who made him after another 9 years of his life had passed since then.

My self-loathing state came back full force.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had both hands holding his cheeks, rubbing his tears away.

"Shh, Ichigo… why are you crying? You're not the one that's supposed to be crying, I'm the only crybaby in our lives! C'mon, please? For me?" I whispered softly, and he slowly brought his eyes to meet mine. We remained staring at each other for a few minutes, neither of us moving away from the embrace. Ichigo's tears had stopped flowing, but it was still obvious to me that he was feeling broken. Could he really be in love with me? It was close to impossible, seeing as how I was a complete plain-Jane, with nothing to compare to with other more beautiful girls.

The silence was slowly but surely beginning to turn stifling, so I finally decided to speak.

"Are you gonna answer my question?" My voice was still low.

"What question?" He murmured back. His voice was raspy, an indication that he had been crying.

"Why were you… crying?"

There was a pause as he regarded me carefully. His eyes swiftly seemed determined of something, and he pulled away from me. He stared at my confused eyes before answering.

"Let me go to the washroom first. I'll… be right back." He looked at me for a second longer before striding towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway. He soon disappeared from my view as he entered through the door. I gradually made my way towards the opposite wall of the door and slid down to sit down on the floor. My legs were stretched out on the floor, and I clasped my hands together and placed them on my lap, staring at them.

Was he in love with me? I still couldn't comprehend the fact that there was a possibility that he could be. I mean, I've seen girls throw themselves at him, and they were so pretty, with their huge bust size and their long legs. Granted, I too had long legs, but they were hidden by the shortness of my body. Why would he love me, when he could get a supermodel as a lover? I knew he had never had a girlfriend either, from the day I met him when we were both 10. It didn't make any sense…

I don't know what took over me, but I did something then that would greatly affect my life from that point on.

I looked up towards the ceiling, closed my eyes, and said in such a faint voice that I knew no one could hear me from down the hall, "I love you… Ichigo…"

A sudden clearing of throat alerted me of someone else's presence in the vicinity, and my eyes flew open. It was Ichigo, staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Too shocked to do much, I immediately opened my mouth, to contradict what I said.

"I-Ichi- No! I don't-! That was-"

I couldn't even complete my sentences; my mind wasn't functioning properly! How could I be so stupid as to say something like that right in front of the door of the room that he was inside of?! Ah, stupid Rukia!

But what he did next made me not feel sorry for what I did.

He silenced my thoughts which were going into overdrive as his lips pressed against mine. I was so shocked at first that he would be so bold. It was only when I felt him pulling me to my feet and nibbling on my lips when I realized I wasn't responding. I immediately started to, and an almost feral growl left his lips when I did. He was being firm, but gentle at the same time. He grabbed my hips and pressed myself against him, while totally devouring my lips.

Motherfucking euphoria. That was all I could feel. Well, okay. Maybe not. I _did_ feel the hand that was creeping down my spine towards my ass. He grabbed it and squeezed it lightly, causing a whimper to escape my lips. Before we knew it, he had me up against the wall.

We broke apart when it became clear that we wouldn't be able to stop ourselves from taking it further if we continued with the making out. When I had finally caught my breath, I stared up at him in total shock.

"I love you, Rukia."

And, as we stood under the fluorescent lights of the walkway, I knew that it was all right, that there was no need to run away from anything. I pecked him on the lips once again, before smiling shyly up at him.

"Fine, idiot. I love you too."

It was safe to say that I had never seen a bigger smile than the one he had plastered across his face.

* * *

Ichigo and I had just reentered the hall when I heard a familiar voice.

"Rukia!" squealed Rose as she dashed towards me like a hurricane. "We got in!"

"What, seriously?! That's awesome!" I rushed forward and hugged her. I was going to Shirayuki Ballet School! Finally, after so long, my dream was going to become a reality, and I would have Rose with me. Plus, it turned out that Ichigo had a job offer near the school, which he was only planning to accept if I had been chosen, so we'd be able to see each other. It seemed like everything was going to work out so well.

"Seriously, you two look like you're going to hug each other to death."

Nope, it looked like Jared was still an idiot.

* * *

On the way back to our hotel, where Ichigo had been _conveniently_ informed by Rose that he would be staying with me at, I sat in the passenger seat of his rented black BMW M6 convertible Neiman Marcus Edition car (yes, he's _rich_) while he drove. An awkward silence ensued for a few minutes, before Ichigo decided to break the ice.

"So… we're together now right?"

I seriously wanted to smack him right then. After making out for at least ten minutes and confessing our feelings for each other, you would think he got the picture that we were, in actual fact, dating.

We stopped at a traffic light.

I started rambling. "Yes, you idiot! Of course, we're dating! Unless you lied and only wanted to make out with some girl and I happened to be nearby and the only way for you to kiss me was to confess to m-"

He leaned over and claimed my lips briefly before pulling back with a smug smile on his face.

"Silly. That was my first kiss ya know. I wouldn't just give that to anyone." He reached his right hand toward me, keeping his left hand on the wheel, and stroked my cheek. "I really do love you, Rukia." He smiled and brought my face towards his and feathered my face with light kisses. We jerked apart when the sound of an insistent horn reached our ears, and without delay, Ichigo sped off.

The blush that hadn't left my cheeks since getting into the car grew as I stared out at the passing buildings.

"It was… my first kiss too."

I didn't look up at him when he answered, since the blush had instantly become redder as all the blood rushed to my face and ears.

"And I'll be the only one to give you any kisses from now on, seeing as how you're gonna be my wife soon."

I could tell he wasn't joking, even though he said it in a very arrogant voice. And you know what?

I couldn't care less.

All I knew was that I was going to marry the man of my dreams -literally- and the years we would spend together were going to be magnificent.

And to think, it all started with the slip of the tongue under the fluorescent lights.

* * *

**A/N: It's over! Yup, it's only gonna be a two-shot, but maybe if I get more reviews, I might write an epilogue or something. Well, the point is, REVIEW!! Just click that button and say hi!**


End file.
